Battlefield 1942
Battlefield 1942 is a 2003 first-person shooter developed by Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, more colloquially known as DICE. Unlike OTL’s game, Battlefield 1942 is published by Microsoft ITTL as an exclusive for the Nintendo X, in a move that while at first seems counter-intuitive due to Microsoft also publishing the immensely-popular Halo, ends up paying off, due to Halo and Battlefield 1942 both being substantially different in terms of setting.
Like OTL’s game, the five classes are still present, those being Scout, Medic, Assault, Anti-tank, and Engineer, but with a Sniper class also added in. The two sides of the game, the Allied Forces and Axis Powers still remain as well, but with the Kingdom of Italy also being part of the Axis Powers ITTL. However, unlike contemporary shooters like Halo, Snowblight, and Metroid Prime, the game lacks any sort of single-player campaign.
Battlefield 1942 is released on January 10th, 2003, ends up seeing a lot more success ITTL both critically and commercially as a result of being released on consoles, selling around 5 million units total, and is favorably-received as a competitor to EA’s Medal of Honor series, though the lack of an original story in the single-player campaigns is somewhat criticized in comparison to Halo and Medal of Honor. The game is successful enough to also warrant a PC port, which sells an additional 3 million units, and becomes home to a host mods, like in OTL. As a result of this, Microsoft purchases a 40% investment in DICE, which will be greatly expanded upon in the future...
Final Fantasy Online
Final Fantasy Online is a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Squaresoft and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the first major Final Fantasy release to occur after Sony’s acquisition of Squaresoft, and is heavily marketed as a demonstration of the PlayStation 2’s online capabilities.
Unlike OTL, where Final Fantasy XI is set in an original setting called Vana’diel, Online is set in the familiar world of Ivalice from Final Fantasy Tactics (albeit centuries earlier than the events of Tactics), a setting which was retooled for Online after Sony’s acquisition of Squaresoft caused the cancellation of a sequel to Tactics, as said sequel was in development for Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. The player character of the game is fully customizable, and has the six classes from OTL’s XI as default options, with more classes being added through expansions.
In terms of story, Online’s story is a deliberate throwback to earlier Final Fantasy games, revolving around a dark warlock named Nemiodas who seeks to corrupt the four crystals of Ivalice. Major side characters include Cid Landon, a blacksmith and chocobo handler who is the main source of exposition in the game, Anathema Regis, a knight from a possible future where Nemiodas succeeded in corrupting the legendary crystals (who becomes the face of the game in spinoffs and crossovers), Julius Highwind, a dragoon who instructs the character through combat tutorials, and Gilgamesh, the legendary warrior who is an optional boss encounter. Online also features full-voice acting like with Final Fantasy X, with Michael Bell as Nemiodas, Alyson Court as Anathema Regis, Paul Dobson as Julius Highwind, Keith Szarabajka as Gilgamesh (as with OTL, albeit happening earlier ITTL) and most surprisingly, Steve Buscemi as Cid Landon, who has been part of the voice cast of Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, and was chosen at the behest of Sony in order to have a “big name” as part of the voice cast for Online.
Like with OTL’s XI, Online is released alongside a hard drive and e-adapter to allow for expansions to be downloaded more easily via the internet, with several retailers even being supplied with special editions of Online that come with the hard drive and e-adapter. Online is released to lots of fanfare critically and commercially, and ships around 6 million units in its launch period, with the yearly expansions providing a steady flow of money for Squaresoft and Sony.
Sony and Squaresoft announce two game partnership with Namco and Monolith Soft, for Xenogears II and III
“Monolith Soft, the Japanese developer owned by Namco and formed by former Squaresoft employees best known for their work on the 1998 cult hit Xenogears, has announced a two game partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment and Squaresoft, along with Namco, to develop and release two sequels for Xenogears. According to them, Xenogears II is further along in development than most may release, and is scheduled to be shown off at E3 2003. Originally, Monolith Soft were planning on producing a spiritual successor to the series with Namco alone, but as part of Sony’s plan to leverage Squaresoft’s back catalogue of IPs, they were able to strike a deal with Namco and Monolith Soft to produce two games that would fulfill the original vision planned for Xenogears.”
Eternal Darkness delayed to 2004, Denis Dyack desires to fully take advantage of the Nintendo X’s power
“Eternal Darkness, the Nintendo-published and Silicon Knights-developed survival horror game, has seen yet another delay to 2004. Originally scheduled for release on the Nintendo 64, the game was shifted to the Nintendo X for a 2002 release, only to be first delayed to 2003, and most recently, delayed again to 2004. An interview with Silicon Knight’s Denis Dyack reveals that the main reasoning for all these delays is that they want to fully harness the power of the Nintendo X, a console far exceeding the Nintendo 64 in terms of power, and felt that a simple port of the original game with touched up graphics and textures would’ve been insufficient. Dyack said that the added graphical detail would only further enhance the atmosphere of the game, aiming to make a game as frightening and scary as Konami’s Silent Hill 2.”